I Dare You
by wintermuffler
Summary: Lucas and Barry decide to play a round of Truth or Dare. "I dare you to call Dawn and tell her that you're in love with her." "NO! NEVER!" Threeshot, with Scarfshipping. BarryxDawn centric.
1. I Dare You

**Note**: This story will be broken into chapters. I guess for now this is sort of Scarfshipping. I really do love Twinleafshipping, but I always feel for the other character (in this case it's Lucas)… well… we'll see.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

Summary: Barry's parents are out of town, so he is spending the night at Lucas's house in Sandgem Town. After Barry loses for the eleventh time trying to beat Salamence on Lucas's Wii, Lucas persuades his loud, impatient, and blonde friend Barry to play a little game of Truth or Dare. And, of course, the target of the dare becomes no other than... Dawn.

* * *

1. _I Dare You_

"Dude, you're never going to win."

"Yeah I will! Watch me!"

The sound of buttons being furiously smashed filled the room where two boys were sitting in front of a TV, engaged in a video game.

The first boy who spoke had short black hair, and although he seemed to be concentrated on the screen, his mind was wandering.

_How long is Barry gonna keep trying__?_ he wondered, no longer amused as this was his friend's tenth time. Of course, this was always so like Barry—never giving up until he had to. It was just his character.

However, Lucas had a secret—earlier he had rigged the game as a joke. Now, though, he regretted doing so, because for the last two hours the sounds of _You will never defeat me_, _Game over!_, and _Will you dare to try again?_ replayed in his head over and over.

The other boy, Barry, had wild blonde hair. His orange eyes were glued to the screen as his hands pressed different combinations of buttons in a desperate attempt to beat the game's boss, Salamence.

"_GAME OVER_!" The Salamence (along with Lucas, who was trying to imitate it in the deepest voice possible) exclaimed. "_WILL YOU DARE TO TRY AGAIN_?"

Barry glared, still facing the television. "Shut up!" he yelled, seemingly to the jeering Salamence, and his friend. "I'm trying again!"

"No! Don't." Lucas told him, heaving a sigh. He decided he would give up trying to keep the little rouse he had been hiding, because he was seriously getting bored. "'Barry… you won't win."

"I was so close—"

"No! You _can't_ win!" Lucas yelled in protest, flailing his arms wildly. "I cheated. This is a different file." He admitted with a slight smile. "See? Your pokemon are seven levels than they should be!"

Barry blinked.

Lucas's smile widened. "It was funny. Well, in the beginning, at least."

Barry's head slowly turned around until it met Lucas's face.

And then his temper exploded.

"LUCAS! I'M FINING YOU… A MILLION TIMES _INFINITY_ DOLLARS!" he yelled, tackling his friend, who was holding him off.

Barry stopped suddenly, standing straight, and then pointed a finger at his friend determinedly. "But! I'm still gonna beat him. Just watch."

Lucas hit his palm to his face in an act of self inflicted frustration.

Barry was silent for a moment while he restarted the game, and then he sighed. "If I don't die, I'm moving on. But if I do—which I won't—we'll play something else, alright?"

Lucas shrugged. "Yeah, okay."

* * *

"_GAME OVER!"_ The Salamence (and again, Lucas) bellowed menacingly. "_WILL YOU DARE TO TRY AGAIN?_" it challenged. For some reason, Barry noted, the exclamation sounded more annoying than usual.

Barry stared at the screen, unmoving, until he finally shut off the TV.

"Hey, you got pretty close, though," Lucas said in an attempt to cheer his friend up.

Barry shot a look at him, scowling.

_Guess I shouldn't have said that_, Lucas thought. Still, he was impressed. Salamence had gotten down to a low HP, but Barry's last pokemon had been a grass type, weak to Salamence's Aerial Ace.

Barry was uncharacteristically silent for a moment, until he spun around to face Lucas in defeat.

"Fine! What do we play?"

Lucas blinked. _I dunno…what _do _we play__?_ he thought, not having the slightest clue. But then, out of nowhere, an idea surged in his mind; a game that his sister had always made him play. It seemed like it could be fun.

"Truth or dare!" Lucas exclaimed, grinning.

"A girl's game?" Barry questioned suspiciously, his eyes narrowing into slits.

"Not just a girl's game. And who'll know, besides us? Plus, we can learn a lot from each other." Lucas told him, trying to be persuasive.

"…"

"Come on, come on," Lucas went on. _Huh. I sound like Barry_.

Barry thought for a while. He crossed his arms, turning his head to one side. "Fine. But no weird questions, alright!"

"Define weird."

Barry whispered something into his ear.

Lucas's eyes widened for a second. "Okay… yeah. No weird questions."

The two boys plopped down onto the ground.

"The Poketch decides who'll go first. Heads or tails?" Lucas asked, looking at the device on his wrist.

"Heads!" Barry called.

Lucas flipped the coin on his _Coin toss_ app. It was heads.

"Alright! Truth or dare?" Barry asked.

"Truth." Lucas answered right away, playing it safe on the first turn.

"Truth? Okay!" Barry exclaimed excitedly. However, he had no idea what to ask. "Uh… hmm…" he scratched his chin in thought for a while, deciding on a question, as Lucas waited patiently.

"Ah! I got it. When was the last time… you wet the bed?" Barry asked, just on the verge of laughing out loud.

"Yesterday."

Barry stared at him.

"Ha ha! Psyche." Lucas said with a smile. "I don't know… Maybe when I was like… five?"

"Really?" Barry asked, smiling mischievously. "Because I seem to recall a particular incident—"

"Okay, okay! Three years ago." Lucas admitted, scratching his cheek in embarrassment as Barry began snickering.

_You'll pay for that, Barry,_ Lucas thought, deviously glaring. "Anyways. Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Truth, eh? Alright. Hmm… have you ever… been jealous of me?"

Barry's eyes widened. "Jealous? Of you?" he repeated. His eyes closed in thought.

_Duh. Of course I have. Your life is so chill compared to mine. Both of your parents are home. You're an older brother. Plus, you're better looking, smarter, and… __and… and people like you more. So yes._

"Well?" Lucas's voice brought him out of his thoughts.

Barry shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah, 'guess so."

"Seriously?" Lucas asked, surprised by his answer. A little half smile appeared on his face for a brief second, taken aback. Barry was jealous of _him_? For what reason? His dad didn't have the world's coolest job, and Lucas himself was no one special in particular. "_Why_?"

"That's not what you asked!" Barry protested, turning away. "My turn! Truth or dare?"

"Another truth, please."

"Hmm…" It didn't take Barry a long time to think. "Who's the last girl you've liked?"

Lucas's mouth gaped open, shocked by the question. _The last girl… I've liked?_ he thought, swallowing the lump in his throat.

_Or… like?_

* * *

_DING DONG!_

"…_Ooh! What's that?" His little sister had exclaimed loudly after opening the door._

_Lucas had been running down the stairs to answer the door, but as soon as he heard the voice… he had completely froze in his tracks._

"_Good morning, Pi." Dawn had greeted, using the nickname she had given for his sister since she loved Pikachus so much. "Give this bag to your mom and dad for me, okay?"_

"_Okay! …But what about me?"_

"_Aha! You thought I would forget about you, eh? I made a bunch of cookies yesterday. This one's for you and your brother."_

"_Ooh! Thank you! Aww… but do I have to give it to him?" His sister asked, whispering._

_Dawn was laughing._ "_I would appreciate it if you would! __But make sure you save some of the peanut butter ones. Those are Lucas's favorite. Okay?"_

_Lucas smiled. Dawn was always so considerate… he really liked that about her._

"_Okay. 'Bye-bye Dawn! Thank you!"_

_After he had heard the door shut, he went downstairs pretending as if he had not just been eavesdropping moments ago._

"_Look!" His sister had exclaimed, shoving a jar of cookies in his face. "Dawn made us cookies!"_

"_Really? Well, did you say thank you?"_

"_Duh." His little sister grinned. She was already unscrewing the lid and reaching for a cookie. " She always gives us stuff. Not that I'm complaining! But I think she likes us too much!"_

_Lucas laughed._

* * *

"Hello…?"

Lucas blinked. He was back in his room. He looked at Barry, realizing he was eagerly awaiting an answer.

_I can't tell him who._ Lucas thought. _Oh…! But wait! He said the last girl I've_ liked… _so technically I won't be lying._

"Um… The champion. Cynthia."

"Cynthia? Haha! But she's—"

"—so out of my league. I know." Lucas finished for him with a disheartened smile. "Anyways, truth or dare." he added quickly, having a sudden idea.

Barry grinned. "I'll be first to accept a dare."

"Hmm…" Lucas pondered for something good, but his thoughts were trailing off. He was actually disappointed Barry had gone with a dare. _I would've made him admit who he likes… because I know he likes—_

"Hurry, hurry!" Barry urged anxiously.

"I'm thinking." Lucas told him. He looked around his room, searching for something amusing he could make him do, until his eyes landed on the telephone.

_Should I? Really?__…Well… yeah. I'd still be able to find out. I'll do it._

Lucas cleared his throat. "Alright. I thought of something really good. I dare you to call Dawn and tell her that you're in love with her."

"WHAT?"

"What—"

"NO! NEVER!"

Lucas wagged a finger at him. "Hey, a dare's a dare!"

Barry pointed a shaky finger. "But… but that's—"

"What? Not fair?" Lucas asked, raising a brow. "Why does it matter so much to you? It's a dare. Nothing else. …Right?"

Barry nodded energetically a few times. "Right. Right. It's a dare. Ha! I don't know why I was getting so worked up about it."

"Me either."

"But…" Barry looked down for a quick second, then back at Lucas. "I get to tell her it was a dare after, alright?"

"Fine. But it has to be an hour later." Lucas told him, hoping Barry wasn't watching the time. Dawn, Lucas knew, never stayed up past ten.

"Fine." Barry said with relief.

"Alright! You ready?"

Barry didn't reply. He was lost in thought. Lucas noticed that the way Barry was staring at the floorboard was a little creepy, almost like there was something horrific etched on it that only he could see.

"Um… Barry?"

"I'm trying to think!" Barry snapped.

"Think… of what?"

"Of what to say to Dawn." He said, sounding irritated.

Lucas smiled. "What else is there to say? Just say that you're in love with her, wait a few seconds, then hang up."

"No!" Barry exclaimed in frustration. "I can't do it like that—"

"Wait," Lucas interrupted. "You're actually thinking about this? Ha! Now _that's_ funny."

"Huh?" Barry asked. His face flushed when he saw his friend laughing. "That…THAT'S NOT IT! STOP LAUGHING!" he yelled, growing more and more embarrassed. "I just don't want to start laughing in the middle! Total mood killer, you know?"

Lucas raised a brow. "As long as you get it done. You ready now?" he asked, grabbing the phone from the receiver. He began dialing Dawn's home number, unbeknownst to Barry.

Barry scratched his cheek. "Yeah, yeah! This is no big deal." He said, sounding upbeat and confident. "This'll be easy—"

Lucas had shoved the phone to his friend's ear after hearing someone had picked up.

"Huh?" Barry looked at Lucas, who was vigorously nodding and making phone signs with his hand.

Barry swallowed, suddenly nervous. "Da… Dawn?"

"_Barry? Nope! This is Dawn's mom._"

"Oh. H-hi! Um, is Dawn there? I gotta tell her something real quick. It's…it's urgent." He told her, using his familiar statement.

"_Sure thing, honey! Just a minute_." Dawn's mother said, putting him on hold.

Unusually, it was taking longer than it normally did for Dawn to come to the phone. That made him even more anxious. Waiting was killing him; he wanted to get the dare over with as quick as possible.

_Come on, Dawn… what's taking you so long?_

And then, suddenly, a voice appeared on the other line.

"_Barry?_"

His heart quickened.

* * *

to be continued.. have a nice day, everyone :D!


	2. Overdosage

**Note**: Thank you everyone for the support! Again, sorry for the wait! Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.

* * *

_2. Overdosage_

"_Barry?_"

Barry's heart quickened at the sound of her voice. He felt his hands turn cold and clammy, and, not wanting to see Lucas's expression or vice versa, he turned away.

"_Hello… Barry?_" Dawn said again, tapping the receiver. "_Are you—"_

"HI DAWN!" he yelled unexpectedly, almost incomprehensibly, not meaning to sound that loud. He winced. His voice had been an octave higher than usual and it had cracked on her name, providing for Lucas's muffled laughter.

Dawn, however, took no notice. "_What's up? Why are you calling suddenly? Shouldn't you be out battling with your dad or something?"_

"Eh?" Barry asked, confused. "What're you talking about? I'm in Sandgem_—"  
__  
"No, Piplup! A teaspoon, not a tablespoon!" _Dawn was yelling on the other line. She huffed a bit, clearly distracted, then continued speaking. "_Sorry about that. Anyways,_ s_o what's so important? This better be good—I'm in the middle of making cookies,_" she told him. He could hear the clanging of bowls in the background.

"Cookies?" Barry asked suddenly, not in the slightest appearing perturbed that she had not heard him. He sounded normal, and not at all like the nervous and fidgety Barry that he had just been. "But you made them before!"

Lucas smiled at Barry's remark, laughing quietly. He recalled again the time Dawn had delivered them to his house. He had thanked her for them later, even though they had been virtually tasteless; apart from the added goodies.

"___…__Yeah, so?_"

"Dawn! You're always making cookies!"

"_Yeah,_ _so?__…!_ "

"Ya trying to get everyone fat or something?"

"_I'm just trying to perfect my recipe!" _Dawn yelled, sounding frustrated. "_Which reminds me… did you even eat the ones I gave you?_"

Lucas's smile fell.

"Yee-ep! They were pretty _bland_."

_So__ Dawn gave some to Barry, too, _Lucas thought, his heart sinking.

After a moment, the boy began contemplating.

_Wait_… _why am I upset? __I should have known. Of course she wouldn't just think about me—well, us. Barry's her friend—_our friend_—too. What was I expecting? _His head shook in disappointment of himself.

_I mean… she's always so considerate, after all. _

"_What?____…__!_" Dawn sounded shocked. "_But Lucas said they were really good!_"

Barry turned around to face Lucas, raising his eyebrow so far up in his best _are you serious?_ expression.

Lucas half smiled, shrugging. _S__he looked so happy and excited!  
_

"Yeah? Well, he was lying obviously," Barry told her straightforwardly, agitating the dark haired boy—yet he didn't say a thing. "You might want to add some flavoring or something to give 'em some kick next time."

Dawn was silent. Barry could hear her opening and closing cabinets.

"_Hmm,_ _since when did you become the master of cookies?_" she asked, amused.

Barry grinned.

_This is not going in the right direction,_ Lucas thought, staring. _The dare! Finish the dare!_ He waved his hands to the blond desperately, attempting to catch his friend's attention.

"Anyways," Barry went on, not seeing Lucas's wild waving. "How come you just started cooking and stuff?"

"_Well, mom says it's good to practice before I… —hey, wait. What'd you want to tell me before you started talking about cookies like a know-it-all?_"

Lucas sighed in relief.

"Oh yeah, um_…_" Barry bit his lip. He shut his eyes, listening to the sounds of her kitchen, and began to think through the situation again.

_Okay_._ This is because you chose a dare, kid. Let's do this. _He thought, reassuring himself. He opened his mouth to speak, and found it harder to find the words."Dawn, I uh_…_ I_…_"

"_I__…_?"

Barry clenched his fist. "I… gotta tell you something!"

"_Um, yeah. I know_."

Barry sighed. _Why do I feel so nervous doing this? It's not like it's real__…_ I mean, it was_ a __dare__. Sheesh, Barry. It's a dare! A friggin' DARE! Stop fidgeting! If you keep waiting any longer I'm gonna… fine _yourself! he threatened. He looked back at Lucas, who was anxiously waiting, nodding a _go on_.

_Okay! Whatever! Here goes._

"Dawn, I'm—I'm only gonna say this once, so listen up! I_…_ um_…_" Barry swallowed, gritting his teeth. He didn't know what kind of reaction he would get from her, but… more than anything… he was hoping she wouldn't say a thing.

"_What?"_

"I'm—I'm in love with you," he murmured, his cheeks flushing the color of a tomato. His voice was quiet, so quiet that even Lucas couldn't have heard him.

_Phew._ _I… I did it. I actually did it!  
_

Barry raised his arm to wipe off the invisible sweat off of his dry forehead_. _However, his calm countenance was broken just as soon as Dawn had spoke.

"_Say what__?__"_

He froze in panic, turning white.

_Wait… wh-w__hat_ kind of a reaction is that?_…!_

Barry removed the phone from his ear, staring at it pressingly, as if he could not believe it had just uttered such daunting words. Without putting it back, he could hear Dawn again, only this time she sounded pissed.

"_Barry!_"

_Is she… mad? _

Barry's mouth gaped open, unsure of how he should retaliate. One thing was for sure—he couldn't bear to have Lucas witness whatever she was going to say.

_Maybe I should hang up right now__—_

"_BARRY!" _Dawn yelled again. "_What the heck did you just say? I can't hear you!_"

_—__…__oh._

His mouth hung open in disbelief. Dawn had been _deaf_ during the confession. Still, there was a feeling of relief that washed over him_,_ since she didn't think he was a freak, either.

He sighed. _But_ _man, so now I have to say it again?_ _So much for saying it once! _he thought, rolling his eyes.

In a few short seconds, he could forget the whole thing had happened. Mustering up the last of his pride, he spoke again—only this time his voice rang loud and clear.

"DAWN!" Barry yelled, throwing both arms up in the air, momentarily forgetting that one was supposed to be holding the phone. Despite this factor, he continued. "I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU!"

The phone landed quietly on Lucas's bed.

Barry scrambled to put the phone back to his ear, and heard nothing but silence. He looked at Lucas again, who was holding up two thumbs-up in approval.

_Hang up!_ Lucas mouthed.

Barry waited for a few seconds, still hearing nothing.

He hung up.

"I think she hung up on me," Barry said, frowning a bit. Nevertheless, he was relieved he had overcome the challenge. "Phew! Glad that's over."

Lucas smiled. "Yeah. You made it a lot harder than it should have been. Almost like you were for real!" he said brightly, laughing. "Unless you really were!"

"Yeah…" Barry grinned, agreeing without thinking. "Hey, w-w-wait! NO! I wasn't!"

"_Suure, _okay."

Lucas's answer annoyed him, as did the suspicious smile plastered on his face, but he ignored it.

The blond turned his back to the boy, looking at the orange Pokétch on his wrist. "Oh, great! And now I have to wait!"

"Yep!" Lucas said, despite knowing Dawn would be asleep by then. And now he was hungry. His stomach growled loudly, probably after all of that anticipation. "Let's go find something to eat downstairs."

"Yeah! Race you to the kitchen!" Barry yelled, dashing off without waiting for his friend.

The other walked at a leisurely pace, taking time to reorganize the thoughts in his head._ Ever since that day__, Barry…__ it's been obvious._ _When will you just admit it?_

Lucas frowned._  
_

_But then again_…_ I haven't admitted it, either._

…

* * *

Meanwhile, in Twinleaf Town, Dawn stood frozen as her Piplup watched her curiously.

"Piplup…?"

The tiny blue penguin stared at its trainer from atop the kitchen counter, its eyes in wonder.

Dawn was staring at the metallic bowl in front of her, her hand clutching a small opaque bottle that was labeled _vanilla_. Inside the bowl was a mixture of batter, teased by the bottle of flavoring that was hovering just above it.

And then, all at once, Dawn's hand jerked, spilling the contents.

"_PIIIIIP_! PIPLUP!" Piplup chirped frantically, watching in horror as half of the bottle was poured in. It snatched the bottle with its tiny fins, as its trainer stood completely unresponsive.

A small gush of water emerged from the small penguin's mouth, splashing straight into Dawn's face.

Dawn blinked, realizing that she had been in another unconscious daydreaming state, which was something that happened to her quite often. "Thanks, Piplup…" she said, and sighed. For a moment, she wished she had indeed been dreaming. But Barry's words still echoed in her mind:

_I'm in love with you._

Dawn's face heated up, flustered. She clenched her fist. "Agh! Why do boys have to be so… GAH! PIPLUP!" Her eyes widened in shock at the vanilla overdose that had impaired the cookie batter. "WHAT HAPP_—__NO_!"

_Sometimes, I ask myself why… _Piplup wondered, its thoughts trailing off.

* * *

After they had finished eating, the two boys returned back to Lucas's room.

However, instead of returning to the TV, Barry walked over to Lucas's computer and sat down, seemingly intrigued by the monitor.

"Nice PC! Is it new?"

"Um, well_—"_

"Hey! Did I ever show you the letter from my dad?" Barry interrupted, typing away and logging into his personal information.

Lucas stood behind him, watching. "What letter?"

"He wants to battle me," Barry said, opening his mailbox. There was a look of determination on his face. "'_Dear son_," he read, clearing his throat, making his voice many octaves below the norm. "_I'll be waiting for the day you challenge me at the Battle Frontier. How long is it going to take you?_'"

Lucas smiled, being careful with his reaction. Barry's father, Palmer, was a sensitive subject—there were days when Barry would go on gloating about him, and then there were others, where Barry would complain about his dad leaving him behind, or how his dad made him feel like he wasn't good enough, among other topics.

"'_I know I haven't seen you in a while_,'" Barry went on, "_'but I am wondering how you are doing. I'm sure you're growing stronger and stronger as each day passes—you're my son, after all!_'" Barry shook his head, chuckling slightly.

"'_How is your mother? Well, I suppose I'll find out soon enough. Ah! How is your friend Dawn?_'_… … _W-WAIT! DAWN!" Barry yelled out suddenly. He looked at the clock.

"GAH! It's been over an _hour_ already! Why didn't you tell me? I oughta fine you for being late…!" He grumbled to Lucas, getting up from the chair to search for the phone.

"I wasn't paying attention…" Lucas mumbled truthfully.

Barry ignored him. At last, he had spotted the phone. He hastily began dialing in Dawn's number, but a sudden disturbance halted them both.

"_Barry!_" Lucas's grandfather was downstairs, hollering his name. "Your mother is on the phone right now, and she would like to speak to you!"

"Hmm? Mom?" Barry said aloud, looking at the phone. He pressed _TALK_.

"Mom?"

"_Honey! How is my little shooting rocket doing?_"

Barry rolled his eyes, flushing slightly. "Uh… yeah, hi mom. Um, Lucas, I'll take this one out." he said to his friend, walking out of the door, his voice trailing behind him. "I'm fine…"

Lucas chuckled. _Little shooting rocket?_ Arceus, that was hilarious. He would be sure to remember that.

He made his way back to his computer, where the screen was left on Palmer's letter. He glanced at the few remaining sentences.

_Ah! How is your friend Dawn? I presume you two youngsters are still as close as ever! She's probably gotten a lot stronger as well… you better watch out, son, or she'll be running ahead of __you__!_

Lucas nodded a few times in agreement. _That would explain why Barry is in a rush all the time… but… because he's afraid of losing to Dawn? _Lucas wondered._ He can't possibly still be thinking like that, though… Dawn's beat him already countless times._

All of a sudden, a new voice interrupted the silence of his room. This time, however, it had an electronic tone to it.

"New message! New message!" The computer sang loudly. A small window appeared on the screen, displaying the same message as its verbal counterpart. Underneath were smaller letters:

_New message from DAWN!_

_Dawn?_ Lucas was curious. Dawn had sent Barry a message?

_Isn't she supposed to be asleep? _Lucas wondered, looking at the clock. _She can't seriously think… well… it wouldn't hurt to take a peek, right?_ he thought, figuring it would be okay to get a glimpse of what she had written. He craned his neck to look down the hallway of his door, clearly seeing that Barry was sitting on the edge of the stairs, locked in a conversation.

_Just a peek_. Lucas thought, reassuring himself that this was in no way, shape, or form, wrong.

He clicked _VIEW_.

_To: BarryPC  
From: DawnPC  
Sent: 10:11 PM  
Subject: I hate you.  
__Message:_

_The subject line is true because I'm missing sleep to write you this message. You should be grateful!  
Anyways… I really don't know the right words to say what I mean so I'm just going to say what I'm thinking, got it?_

_First of all, dear Barry, _

_ARE YOU STUPID. YOU DON'T CALL SOMEONE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT BECAUSE OF SOMETHING LIKE THAT!_

_…  
Do you know what happened after you said that? (Which was also totally random I might add, considering you tell me that when you're on a trip right now!) I messed up my cookies. You owe me. Actually, I think I should fine you._

Lucas paused. _Dawn thinks Barry's on a trip? _He looked out the door again at the blond, who looked quite animated while he was talking to his mother. He shrugged it off, then continued reading.

_Anyways__…_ ugh… This is so hard.

_I don't really know what to feel… we've been good friends for a long time, yes. So I guess… I would be lying if I said that I __**didn't**__ like you. Because I do__…_ really.

_That's all__…_ I guess.

Lucas's eyes stopped reading. The feeling of his chest tightening and his breath being caught up in his throat prompted a terrible wave of mixed emotions to flood through his body. He had almost forgotten to breathe until his body lapsed into a panic for oxygen.

Dawn___…_ _likes_ him?

His heart was breaking.

"Yeah, yeah! 'Bye mom!" Barry's voice sounded from outside. He could hear the boy's familiar whistling growing closer as he made his way back to the room.

In panic, Lucas quickly trashed the email, dissipating its contents forever. He didn't think twice about it. So long as Barry never got the message, things would be okay. He wouldn't have to listen to his friend, for whatever reasons he had for speaking about it, and his heart wouldn't be able to shatter into more pieces.

He opened a new window and spun his chair around, preparing to meet eyes with Barry out of nervousness.

The blond continued whistling some strangely familiar sounding tune until he reached Lucas's room, where the dark haired boy was sitting upright in his chair, staring back at him from the doorframe.

Barry looked quizzical. "Why do I get the feeling you've done something very suspicious?" he asked, making his way over. He glanced at the screen, seeing nothing but an image search string of the Sinnoh League Champion, Cynthia.

"Ha ha! You were looking at Cynthia again, huh?" Barry grinned, pushing his friend over to the side a little. "Well, I commend you on your tastes. She _is_ a fine looking specimen," he told Lucas, nodding in approval.

"Ha ha… yeah."

Barry scrolled over the champion's pictures a bit until he clicked back to his mail inbox. Lucas bit his tongue to prevent himself from opening his mouth, as if the confession would slip right through his teeth.

"Did I get something?" Barry asked, refreshing the page.

Lucas swallowed, guiltily looking to the side, thankful that Barry wasn't paying attention to him. "No," he managed to choke out. His jaw tightened. What if the message was still in the trash? If Barry was smart enough to search each and every corner of his email… Lucas didn't know how he could explain himself.

"Weird… I coulda sworn I heard—" Barry's eyes lit up, remembering something, and he snapped his fingers for emphasis. "Ah! Shoot, I have to call Dawn! Where'd I put that phone…" He trailed off, retracing his footsteps.

_What happens when Barry calls Dawn? _Lucas wondered, thinking about the worst case scenario. _What if Dawn asks him about the email? Barry will think I did something… and he might find it…_

"Wait," Lucas interrupted. "Um—wouldn't Dawn be asleep by now? Shouldn't you call her tomorrow morning?" he asked. The more time given, Lucas could wipe out Barry's entire trash inbox, completely ridding of all evidence.

_Man____…__ this is turning way too complicated!_

"Eh? Tomorrow morning?" Barry looked up from crawling on the floor, and seemed to scoff at the idea. "No way! I'm not going to sleep on this!"

"But—" Lucas began in desperation.

"Here it is…" Barry mumbled, finding the phone. "I'm calling! Right…"—he was pressing buttons—"…now."

Lucas bit his lip.

Several minutes seemed to pass, but in reality it had only been a few seconds. After the fifth ring, a tired voice picked up from the other line.

"_Hello,_" a voice answered weakly, the inflection sounding more like a statement.

"Uh… Dawn?"

"…_No, Barry dear, this is her mother."_

"Oh, hi again Mrs. Johanna—um, s-sorry, I didn't mean to—it's just, I… I really need to talk to Dawn. It's really, really important!"

"_Let me see if she's still awake… just a minute._" Johanna's voice sounded from the other line.

Barry began tapping his foot on the ground, clearly impatient, but this time—and he was glad for it—he was not as anxious as he had been before.

_Hopefully this won't be messy… _Lucas hoped, secretly crossing his fingers.

* * *

"Dawn, dear? Are you—" Johanna broke off when she saw her daughter sitting upright on her bed, playing her Nintendo DS.

"Mom?" Dawn looked up, closing the lid of the console.

"Barry's on the phone," her mother told her, and upon hearing his name, Dawn could feel her own heart pulse loudly against her chest. "He says it's important."

Dawn held her breath for a moment. _Is he calling because he saw my message?_

She was nervous to talk to him, but she nodded anyways. "I'll take it," she said, reaching for the phone. As her mother left the room, Dawn waited until her footsteps were no longer on the second floor before she un-muted her waiting friend.

"Barry?"

"_Dawn?_"

She blushed, swallowing the lump in her throat. "What do you want?" she asked, a bit anxious, though her tone was collected.

"_Uh… well._" There was a short pause before he continued. "_Man, this is weird!_"

Her eyebrows furrowed, unsure of what he was talking about. "What is?"

"_Ah… LOOK! I'm sorry about earlier._"

Dawn blinked. She sat up more, leaning against the bed frame. "What… for what?"

"_Heh,_ _sorry, I guess that must've been really weird for you._"

She shook her head. "No…" She told him, even though she was confused. Why was he saying sorry for confessing? Did he not read her reply? "Barry… did you read my—"

"—_But I gotta tell you the truth now._" He went on, not listening to her. "_See, this is what happened Dawn!" _There was a pause, as if Barry's was trying to create some sort of dramatic effect.

_"It was all a dare!"_

Dawn froze.

"…Wh-what?" she sputtered, hoping, _desperately hoping_, she had heard wrong.

Barry laughed. "_See? Don't be mad at _me_. I got dared to do it! And I couldn't tell you right away either. S-so… we're still friends! Right?_

Dawn's teeth clenched. And this wasn't some stupid dream, either.

Her silence must have lasted a while because Barry went on again. "_Hey, Dawn__? Just tell me we're still good old pals and I'll hang up and let'cha catch up on your beauty sleep or whatever!_"

Her fists curled tightly. It was all a _dare_? How the _hell_ could Barry—her best friend—do this to her? It didn't matter if it was just some stupid dare—how could he agree to play games with her heart? And she had almost returned his_ fake_ feelings… She felt stupid and tricked, knowing she had sent him a message that he was bound to read someday_. _She didn't even want to think about it. A hot stream of tears fell down her cheeks—she was pissed, seriously pissed, and she didn't know how she could ever manage to forgive him for _this one_.

"_Don't tell me you can't hear me again_," Barry whined.

She wiped at her cheeks angrily before muttering the three most deadliest words known to human nature.

"_I hate you_." Her voice was laced with her tears. "Just... _leave me alone__!_"

She cut the line and angrily slammed the phone on her dresser. She didn't care if she was overreacting, or being too harsh, or whatever—she figured he deserved it.

She pressed her face into her pillow as tiny sobs escaped her mouth, trying to remain as quiet as she could. She didn't want her mom to hear.

_I hate him, _Dawn thought again, angrily smacking her pillow. _My feelings are worth a _dare _to him? _

She sighed. But then, a sudden thought occurred to her; something she should have questioned from the beginning.

Who… had dared him in the first place?

And more importantly…

_Why?_

* * *

Back in Lucas's room, no one moved or spoke. The unusual silence lingered for quite some time until it was replaced with short, droning beeps.

"_Please hang up." _The voice from the phone requested, and at the same time, Barry obliged.

"How'd it go…?" Lucas asked, afraid of the oncoming answer. He had heard everything already; Dawn's voice and Barry's sullen looking face were clear enough.

"She hates me," Barry said simply, looking down at the floor. He stared at it for a while, Lucas watching, until he angrily turned to face his friend.

"This is all _your_ fault!" The blond exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger, and jabbing it in front of the other boy's face. "I'm fining you one mill—no, not_ even_—one_ BILLION _TIMES INFINITY!"

Lucas gulped, staring at the finger that had just infringed on his personal bubble. However… he was not about to let his pride down so easily.

"How is it _my_ fault? _YOU'RE_ the one who picked dare!"

_… __Great._

___…_  


* * *

aw, Happy Valentines Day (or Singles Awareness Day, whichever you prefer)! check out this cute _Valentin_ picture (remove spaces): http : / / i56. tinypic. com / 6p2df4 .png

have a great day, everyone! :D


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